New east servery planned

By Scott Norgaard     10/8/09 7:00pm

Not long from now, residents of the north and west colleges might just have a reason to abandon their cinnamon rolls and head over to the south colleges for dinner. A new east servery, which will connect Lovett College and Will Rice College, may be completed as early as December 2010. Proposed plans for the east servery, which would be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certified, would connect Will Rice and Lovett's commons and cost an estimated $12 million.

The plan for the servery was conceived by Michael Hopkins of Hopkins Architects, a firm based in London that also designed McMurtry College and Duncan College. Hopkins' plan for the distant future includes a new wing for Sid Richardson College and a new quad for Will Rice, as well as a new commons for Sid that will connect it to the east servery, Associate Dean of Undergraduates Matt Taylor said.

However, these plans are still on the drawing board, and just a timeline has been constructed for the east servery. If the university has enough funds, demolition could occur next February, with construction starting in March. The final servery would be completed that December, Facilities, Engineering and Planning Project Manager Larry Vossler said.

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"We have broad-brush details," Vossler said. "Right now, we are getting the finer details and specifics."

One of the major challenges facing this project is funding. Since the economic downturn, Taylor said Rice's finances have been hurt, stagnating its ability to plan for future expansion.

However, the east servery is one of the main priorities of the university's expansion, after the current reconstruction of Will Rice and Baker College, he said.

The final decision as to whether the proposed east servery plan will be confirmed will take place at the Board of Trustees meeting in December, when the plan must pass the board's inspection to be put into motion.

During construction, food will be transported to the Will Rice and Lovett Commons from other serveries across campus.

Aside from securing funding, the administration hopes to maintain each college's identity and preserve college unity and spirit. However, Taylor does not believe construction will impede these goals.

"We don't worry that Lovett will be diluted by this," Taylor said.

The administration is also taking into account the architecture of the proposed servery. Hopkins' plan for the servery is faithful to the master plan for the university, Taylor said.

"I think the logistics of it follows the design [of Rice]," Housing and Dining Associate Vice President Mark Ditman said. "I think the aesthetic of this follows the function. We have to try and find out how we can feed colleges in a space and get them back to class."

Some students on campus are concerned that the plans will upset the existing spirit of their college.

"I would like them to keep [Lovett's] lower commons more or less the same, because that is just how it has been," Lovett senior Gilbert Huang said. "It is what makes us unique."

Another student concern voiced regards the construction. Lovett residents are already inconvenienced by the current construction with the Will Rice and Baker projects, Lovett sophomore Allison Kipling said.

"I, personally, am not a fan," Kipling said. "I'm worried that the construction could interfere with getting to class."

The administration is taking these concerns into account by trying to complete all the construction projects - including that of Baker and Will Rice and of the east servery project - at one time, Taylor said.

Taylor added that the expanding undergraduate population renders the servery's construction inevitable.

"We are going to build this servery someday," Taylor said. "The question is whether it is going to be with the schedule we would like.

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